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Nuggets ponder matchups against LeBron James as Miami Heat arrives in town

LeBron James, right, drives on Denver's Danilo Gallinari 13 days ago in Miami. The Nuggets will try to stop the Heat star Thursday night at the Pepsi Center, probably with Andre Iguodala matched up on him most of the time. (Charles Trainor Jr., The Miami Herald)

Thanks to the vagaries of the early-season schedule, the Nuggets' game against LeBron James and the Miami Heat on Thursday night will be their second meeting with the defending NBA champions in 13 days.

From the box-office standpoint, it is the type of game that goes on the marquee message board along Speer Boulevard and is featured in multiple-game ticket packages.

From the basketball standpoint, it's one of the squares on the schedule that can lead you to point, nod and declare that these are the types of nights behind Denver's acquisition of Andre Iguodala from Philadelphia in the offseason. He adds defensive grit, whether he's matched up directly against the opposing superstar or on someone else.

This is far from a new experience for Iguodala, given his eight seasons in the Eastern Conference, but Iguodala again likely will matched up defensively on James in the 8:30 p.m. matchup at the Pepsi Center. It won't be exclusive, considering he guarded Dwyane Wade for significant portions of the Heat's 119-116 victory over the Nuggets in Miami on Nov. 3.

"He's the best basketball player in the league right now," Iguodala said of James after practice Wednesday. "He's playing really well, at a high level. He really doesn't have any weaknesses, and that's the biggest challenge. He can pass the ball, he can lead the team, he can rebound, defend, block shots, fill the passing lanes. So you really can't make mistakes.

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"You have to play him honest. You have to go head-up, is what it comes down to."

James had an unspectacular night in the Heat's win over the Nuggets in Miami, going 8-for-17 from the floor and getting 20 points. Wade also was quiet, scoring only 14 points. But James had 11 assists that night, and center Chris Bosh lit up the Nuggets for 40 points.

"LeBron wants to play team basketball and lead his team with a triple-double, but if he has to score big numbers, he will and he can," said Nuggets coach George Karl. "So a lot of how you can attack his aggressiveness is dictated by him a little bit. We feel that Bosh beat us down there and we have to be good at keeping him into a reasonable area.

"Dwyane Wade, I think we understand we have to make sure that his touches are crowded. Crowding LeBron's touches sometimes turns into wide-open 3-point shots. We have to read that as the game goes on. Our concepts on him are to be determined as the game goes on."

The Denver Post's Benjamin Hochman posts analysis, notes and more on this blog focussing on the Denver Nuggets.

The Nuggets' Danilo Gallinari also likely will spend some time on James. Denver also will need him to be far better offensively than he was at Miami, where he was a dreadful 3-for-17 from the floor — including 1-for-9 from 3-point range — and a liability overall much of the night.

"He's a great challenge," Gallinari said of James. "You play this game to play against the best, and he's one of the best. It's always a great challenge against him.

"You have to do a good job on him one-on-one, but then you have to play five-man defense, too. One-on-one, he's probably one of the toughest guys to stop. You have to be ready that once he beats you, you have to be confident that somebody will help you."

Gallinari didn't participate in practice Wednesday because of a sore knee, but he said would be ready Thursday night.

"There's no reason for me to not play," he said. "I will play."

Karl also said he expected Gallinari to play, but his availability, or at least his durability, will affect the Nuggets' defensive approach. "Do we end up playing small against Bosh, and we actually talked today about putting Gallo on Bosh," Karl said. "Last game, we put Gallo on LeBron and they switched to get Kenneth (Faried) on him, and we were OK with that. LeBron didn't beat us. ... It will be interesting to see how we play at the end of the game, if it's a close game."

20: Points scored by LeBron James in the Heat's first game against the Nuggets this season. James also grabbed nine rebounds and had 11 assists, including a dish to Ray Allen that led to a decisive four-point play with 6.7 seconds remaining in Miami's 119-116 victory Nov. 3 .

26.7: Points averaged by the Miami Heat forward in 17 games against the Nuggets. James also has averaged 7.2 rebounds and 7.6 assists. He is 5-12 against the Nuggets, having gone 4-10 as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers and 1-2 with the Heat.